Six Spanish hunters remain detained in Turkey after being accused of injuring a person during a hunting drive. The case prosecutor continues to pursue the charge, even though the person believed to be injured has withdrawn the complaint following a financial settlement with the hunters. Those affected say there is no evidence that the individual was struck by their shots and contend that the medical report notes an injury of “undetermined origin.”
Carlos Soto Linares, Enrique de la Riva Andrés, Francisco José López Rodríguez, Francisco Javier Soto García, Juan Claudio Jarillo Gómez, and Luis Matías García Casero traveled to Turkey on January 30 with plans to return to Spain on February 4. The hunting trip, organized by Wild hunting in Turkey, did not unfold as expected, and they remain in custody in Istanbul.
“The initial hunting days—January 31, February 1, and February 2—passed without incident, but the nightmare began on February 3,” one of the men told El Periódico de España, part of the Prensa Ibérica group. That day, an hour into the hunt, Enrique de la Riva spotted from his position with his binoculars two young men armed with rifles walking about 280 meters away.
Immediately, using their radios, “the incident was reported to all parties involved in the drive (hunters, organizers, and Turkish government representatives), and the hunt was halted for safety reasons,” the hunters recount. The two individuals turned and disappeared when they realized they had been detected.
Fifteen minutes later, as the drive concluded, the organizers collected the hunters’ positions and three police vehicles arrived at the site. Officers informed them that someone had been injured, that they should surrender their weapons, and accompany them to the police station. The Spanish hunters, however, insist they did not see any injured person, nor was there any ambulance in the vicinity of the drive.
Back at the police station, they handed over their firearms and spent the night awaiting an interpreter to assist in giving statements to the prosecutor and later to the judge. On February 4, the judge ordered their release, with passports retained but with a requirement to report to the local police every seven days. This judicial decision was supported by two police reports stating that the hunters could not have taken part in the supposed accident, according to the hunters.
The Spanish hunters say the supposed injured party underwent two medical examinations to determine his clinical condition, neither of which could confirm a gunshot wound. In fact, they were told the injured person spent four days in hospital with a wound of “undetermined origin.” “We do not know if it was a gunshot wound; he left the hospital and is out of danger,” one of the hunters told this newspaper, concerned about being stuck in Turkey and missing work for over a month.
Since the beginning, the group has contacted the Spanish consulate and later the Spanish Embassy in Turkey. They state that both provided full attention and support, with the ambassador himself, Francisco Javier Hergueta Garnica, mobilizing resources to help resolve the situation.
The Spanish Embassy even connected the hunters with the law firm Martínez-Echevarría, based in Istanbul, where partner Juan Antonio Viñuales took on the case.
In the following days, a hearing was held at the Malatya court attended by lawyers for both sides. The Spanish lawyers requested that, if civil liability were established, a bail be set to allow leaving the country.
However, the court denied a bail on February 24, without justification, according to the hunters, who eventually paid what they describe as an “extortion with prosecutor consent” to have the supposed injured party withdraw the complaint and lift precautionary measures. But the case moved forward. Despite compensating the alleged victim to encourage withdrawal of the complaint, the prosecutor persisted with the charge, and the hunters remain detained. “We do not know the reasons or the motive for continuing the process,” they say.
The hunters believe that after paying the agreed compensation, the prosecutor should have closed the case and lifted the precautionary measures. Yet, 48 hours after the complaint was withdrawn, they were still detained in Turkey without clear reasons or a timeline for dismissal of the case.
Meanwhile, this newspaper has attempted to obtain the Foreign Ministry’s position, but has not yet received a response.
A Waiting Period
From the outset, the group kept in touch with the Spanish consulate and then with the Spanish Embassy in Turkey. They claim both offered comprehensive support and that the ambassador leveraged all means to find a resolution.
The situation remains unresolved as the legal process continues to unfold in Turkey, with the hunters awaiting clarity on when they might be allowed to return home.
For the journalists covering the story, efforts to obtain official statements are ongoing, but at this time no official update has been provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.